Patriots start training camp on right foot

On reporting day in Foxboro, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick reveals that injury-plagued tight end Rob Gronkowski has been cleared to play after his 2013 season ended because of a severe knee injury.

Gronkowski has fallen on hard times over the years, most recently in 2013 when he began the season on the active/physically unable to perform list following a series of surgeries on his forearm and back, then ended it on injured reserve after a hit by Browns safety T.J. Ward sent him back to the operating room in January of this year.

Between the late start and early finish to his fourth NFL season, Gronkowski was limited to 39 receptions for 592 yards and four touchdowns in seven games.

As the statistics over the years reflect, quarterback Tom Brady’s numbers have also suffered when Gronkowski has been sidelined.

“It’s great to have him out there,” Mankins said Wednesday. “He’s a dynamic blocker. He does a great job of blocking and he’s a big target for Tom to get the ball to and he gets open, so any time you can have Gronk on the field it’s good.”

Mankins professed to feeling better than that, albeit possessing the knowledge of a veteran who is well aware that’s about to change.

“I feel great right now,” the 10-year vet said, “(but) I’m sure in a few days I’ll feel like crap.”

Ah, training camp – one of football’s necessary evils.

“At this point you’d just rather get to the games, but I understand what training camp’s for, and it’s needed. It’s necessary,” said Mankins. “So it’s just one of those things that you’ve got to put yourself through and it makes you better. It gets you in good shape, so it’s necessary.”

Page 2 of 2 - “You know you have to go through it to get to the ultimate goal, that’s having a winning season,” said defensive end Rob Ninkovich, who’s been doing this for eight years now.

“This is the time that you put in the hard work. It all pays off. Being an older guy, I’ve been through all the doubles (double sessions) and the hard days before. I know what they’re like, so I know what to expect. This is where you kind of set the tone for the season.”

Summertime practice may not make perfect, but according to safety Devin McCourty, it leads to improvement.

“At this time of year, (it’s) just working hard through mistakes,” the five-year veteran said. “Mistakes are going to happen, so sometimes (it’s) just repetition, keep doing it, and it gets better over time.”

That process was scheduled to begin for the entire team today with the first full-squad practice for those deemed healthy enough to participate.

“It’s always an exciting time of year to start training camp,” said Belichick.

The coach’s game plan?

“We’ll try to level the playing field here in training camp so that everybody gets an opportunity to compete – the double-digit veterans and the guys who are here for the first time,” he said. “That’s not going to be totally level, but it will be hopefully on a competitive level, and we’ll see how it goes.

“They’re here, they’re working hard, and they’ve got a long, long way to go. We’ll see how everybody improves.”

Mankins has seen it all unfold a time or few before in New England.

“We have pretty high expectations every single season,” said Mankins. “We expect to have a good football team, play good football, and try to be there at the end.

“We added some good players and we kept some good players from previous years, so I have the same expectations I do every year – for us to have a good football team. We’ve just got to play the games and see how it goes.”